One-Shot: The Grass is Green HERE
A/N: One-Shot Prompt from molly9429. 🙂 I hope I did it justice. Thanks!
Mary Lou’s POV
“Junior! Kenny! Drew!” I’m trying to remember where I put the keys and the directions to Steph’s rental. I’m thrilled she said we could have it for a week and, when I asked her how much, she said it was free. Lenny and I were stunned and grateful. Seriously. Steph doesn’t need to get us an anniversary present this year. This is enough.
“Boys! We’re leaving in three minutes. If you aren’t in the car, you’re staying with grandma,” Lenny yells. I finally find the directions, check the thermostat and the burners on the stove, and continue to search for the keys. The boys run past me at full speed and head to the car. They get into a fight about ‘shotgun’. Lenny orders them to the backseat. I ride shotgun. Always.
“Lou?”
“I can’t find the keys.”
“I have the keys, Lou.”
“Well thanks for telling me,” I moan. “I’ve been searching for the past 15 minutes.”
“I told you I had them when you asked me. Remember?”
No, of course I don’t. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been searching. I do my final checks, forward the house phone to my cell phone, and shut and lock the door.
90 minutes to the shore. 99 bottles of beer to go.
This was the best part of my childhood. I am the fourth of five kids and we spent every summer with the Plums at the Jersey Shore. My sister Mary Katherine was Valerie’s best friend and it was the only time when Val and Mary Kate acknowledged we existed. We spent hours at Jenkinson’s and on the beach. We made s’mores, ate cotton candy, and made sandcastles before graduating to boy watching.
I wore my first bikini there, with something to fill the top, and was jealous of Steph because she got her period first. That was the only bummer. Mrs. Plum and my mom were traditional Catholics. No swimming on your period. We looked at the massive pads and agreed. It looked like a diaper, although you couldn’t tell once you were wearing it but what would happen if you got into the water? Would it balloon up? Would it look like you had a diaper in your panties? Could it float away? Mary Kate and Val just sniggered at us. They had graduated to tampons and could do what they wanted.
Once Lenny and I married, the shore is where we went for wedding anniversaries. I remember the first time I left Junior home with my mother. I was still nursing and Junior was six months old. I was terrified of leaving him alone (albeit with my mother and two sisters) but Lenny insisted.
“We haven’t been alone in months, Lou,” he said, nuzzling my neck. I should have ignored him. I returned from the shore pregnant again. After it happened the third time, Lenny and I swore off the shore for a few years.
I refused to be my mother. Besides, Lenny was only producing boys. I was already outnumbered in my own home.
“Your mother wants us to come to her house for Thanksgiving this year,” Lenny murmurs. We’re both ignoring the fight in the back. “My mother wants us to come to her house for Thanksgiving.”
“We were at your mother’s last year. My mom this year.”
“Aw Mom,” Junior whines. “Grandma Molnar makes the driest turkey! And I hate stuffed cabbages.”
I turn around in the seat and glare at Junior. All three boys stop clowning around and drop their eyes.
I look over at Lenny and he’s hiding a smile. “Don’t say a word,” I hiss.
Junior’s right. My mom can’t cook. I used to love going to the Plums’ for dinner as a kid. Mrs. Plum was the best cook. Everything was perfect. She taught me to cook, although she demanded you follow instructions perfectly. I stuck it out and now I don’t have to rely on takeout or box macaroni and cheese like my mother did. My mom could sew. She tried to teach Steph but Steph was not interested. I wasn’t either. I take the boys’ clothes to my mother’s when they need hemming or to be let out.
I start singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall and we make it through twice before reaching Steph’s rental. Lenny and I stop and gape.
“Good god. How much is she paying?” Lenny asks. The boys are already out of the minivan and running for the door.
“No idea,” I reply. The place is magnificent and I’m jealous. Lenny and I have discussed buying a timeshare at the shore but every timeshare around has crap Jersey Shore dates. There’s no point, unless we want to end up here in mid-November.
The boys are banging on the door and twisting the door handle. I can see Lenny is getting furious.
“Boys!” Lenny yells. I can see this is going to be the start of a very long week unless I put some rules into place now.
“Freeze!” The boys freeze in place, our rule that lets them know that the next step is serious punishment. “Unfreeze.” They stand quietly. “Before I open that door, I want you to understand this: Aunt Steph made this place available to us for the week. The first thing you’ll do once we get inside is sit down and write her a thank you note. All three of you. Separate notes and you’ll say more than just, ‘Thanks, Aunt Steph. Love’ your name. Got it?”
The boys groan but nod.
“Second. There are two bedrooms with twin beds. We’ll move one bed into one of the rooms and you’ll all share one room.” I see long faces over the idea of not having separate rooms. “Steph is using this place for leadership retreats for the men in her company, so we have to leave it clean and ready for her to use when she comes back.”
“Where is she?” Drew asks.
“None of your business,” Lenny replies. “Wherever she is, it means we have this house for a week. Would you rather she come home and we have to leave so she can do her company stuff?”
“No, Daddy,” he mutters.
“Exactly.”
“Which is why you boys will keep it clean. Every day. No leaving your clothes everywhere, no soaking the bathroom, no making messes. Understood?” I glare at each one.
They nod. I head around to the back of the house and the shed and pull the key from under the flowerpot Steph described. I check under the other pots. Slick. She put decoy keys under the other flowerpots to slow someone down. I grin. My best friend is amazing.
I open the house and gape. God I wish Lenny and I could afford something like this. The house is amazing. It has to be worth a million. I can see the ocean from here. Lenny hauls the suitcases inside and we tour the house.
This is going to be an amazing week.
I call RangeMan Trenton and ask for Ram. Every time I talk to Ram, I think of Connie. She has the hots for him. Ram’s harder to read.
“Mrs. Stankovic?”
“Mary Lou, please. Hi Ram! We’re in the house.”
“OK. Monitoring disabled. Let us know when you leave.”
“Sure. Thank you.” Click.
I count. Ten words. Connie may have a point.
I head to the kitchen to check out the fridge. I’m really not expecting much but I find a note.
Stephanie,
I left a London Broil and plenty of roasted vegetables. Also, there’s a partially roasted chicken in the freezer. If you cover it with tinfoil, you can put it in the stove at 350 for about 25 minutes. It will finish cooking and you just need to prepare a salad to go with it.
Enjoy your weeks at the beach and remember to continue your exercise.
Mother.
 Underneath is another note:
ML,
All yours if you want it.
Steph
I smile and decide against it. Mrs. Plum clearly cares and left Steph enough food to make it a week without her.
The Burg isn’t sure what to make of Mrs. Plum’s dramatic turnaround in favor of the RangeMen. The rumors were running wild that the RangeMen threatened to never bring Steph back unless she was nice to Steph. Other rumors said Mrs. Plum was hoping that Steph would get interested in one of the men there. Didn’t matter which one, just any one of them to get her married. The worst ones say the RangeMen have a contract on her and she’s trying to be nice to her daughter to end the contract.
I immediately started a rumor that Mrs. Plum liked the RangeMen because they were training Steph to their standards while she worked for them. That one spread like wildfire, as I knew it would. It’s the truth so of course it was the least believable at first. Now everyone is wondering what kind of bad-ass Steph will be when they’re done. Will she be a cold-hearted killer? Or will she be a more accurate disaster?
I’m pushing warm-hearted killer. Hey, I don’t know either, but Steph isn’t cold. Pulling her gun will never be her first thought but if she pulls it, she’ll be deadly. That I know.
I check on the boys. They’re writing their thank-you notes and they’re doing a good job. Junior actually writes a decently long letter to his godmother. I’m proud. Each folds his letter, puts his name on it, and hands it to me. Now they’re free. They know the shore rules.
No shirts, no shoes, no vegetables.
We allow the boys to roam Point Pleasant on their own. Junior, at 14, is the same age Steph and I were when we were allowed to roam on our own. As long as he keeps an eye on his little brothers and doesn’t allow them to get into any trouble, they can go out on their own. Point Pleasant is known for its family friendly atmosphere and there will be plenty of eyes on them. I’m not afraid to allow Junior some responsibility. Besides, he knows the rules. ‘Stranger Danger’ is more than just a silly phrase.
In the meantime, Lenny and I have a chance to get ‘reacquainted’. I’m on birth control and Lenny’s had the snip. We both agreed after Drew that we were done. I wanted a girl but it didn’t happen. I’m not willing to keep having boys like the Crandles. Five boys before she finally got the girl. Not a chance. Lenny and I enjoy the alone time and, while Lenny goes in search of the boys, I take the minivan to the grocery store. We have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and the boys collapse in their beds, full and happy.
That’s our week in Point Pleasant. The boys roam, swim, and play at the arcade and on the beach. Lenny and I make love all over the house, swim in the ocean and have family fun at the arcade. We eat semi-nutritious meals and enjoy our time together. Lenny and I look at our budget again and make a pact to make sure we can do this every summer.
Plumbers are paid decently well, especially if, like Lenny, you’re part of a family business. When he proposed to me, in high school, I remember how shy and embarrassed he was.
“I won’t make much, Lou, especially as an apprentice plumber. But I love you and I want to marry you. Will you marry me?”
I lost my virginity that night but I never regretted it. I also never did the math on Junior. My life has been good. My husband loves me as much as he did the night he asked me to be his wife and, although we’ve had rough years, we’ve never wavered in our love. We’ve fought, cried, walked away angry and gotten back together. Lenny’s slept at his mother’s because I was angry at him and I called him in the middle of the night begging him to come home.
We’re committed.
Lenny offered to beat the shit out of Dickie when Steph caught him boinking Joyce. Steph thanked him and declined. She slept on our sofa for a few days, avoiding her mother and sister, and I tried to help. I couldn’t imagine leaving Lenny but Steph was adamant.
“He broke his vows. He promised to love me and be faithful for the rest of his life. How could I ever trust him again?”
Good question. I didn’t have an answer for that except that, if she loved him, she’d have to trust in her love for him and decide if she wanted to hold onto her marriage. That’s when I realized Steph married Dickie for all the wrong reasons. She admitted she was initially interested in him because he had a hot car.
Not a killer smile or hot body or warm eyes. A car.
I never again tried to help her save her marriage. I give Steph as little relationship advice as possible. Steph isn’t ready to make a commitment to anything that requires more than Rex does. It’s not an indictment of my BFF. It’s reality. Steph’s not ready to put someone else before herself . . . well, not until Ranger.
I’m praying she and Ranger work out. He’s perfect for her. I’ve watched Ranger be there for her, in every way small and large, for the past four years. Even now, without her saying anything, I know he must be here at the shore. I talked to her the night before her family left, and she confessed she couldn’t wait for them to leave so she’d have some time to think about Ranger and their relationship and what she’d need in a relationship with him.
That’s when I realized how serious Steph was about him. She was ready to make the changes necessary to be a ‘we’ instead of ‘me’. So when she called saying we could have her house I was certain he must be nearby. She wanted that alone time too much for just anything to move her out for a week. I didn’t need confirmation. I just needed to know we weren’t putting her out.
Honestly, I’m hoping Joe is prepared to move on when he comes back from California. It’s going to break his heart to know Steph’s made her choice and it’s not him. I admit, I was pulling for him at first. I thought it would be great for the two of them to get back together. Steph really liked him in high school and even though he was an ass (a hot ass, but an ass nonetheless), he liked her. He was just like every other Italian boy in the neighborhood. That’s why my mother told me to stay away from the Italians.
“Italy has never done anything good for Hungary,” my mother muttered. Steph and I laughed. It was just the Hungarian way of life in the Burg. My marriage to a Pole was considered acceptable.
“He’s not a rutting animal,” my sisters sniffed, “and he’s Catholic. That’s a plus.”
Lenny grinned and muttered that they didn’t know much about Poles. He waggled his eyebrows and I burst into laughs.
Poor Joe. He loves Steph but they’re bad for each other. It’s taken me a while to see it and it’s easiest to see it when I contrast him with Ranger. Ranger is calm and collected when Steph is spastic and nuts. He’s prepared for everything and he never says anything about the fact that she’s not. He’s simply prepared to cover her. Mrs. Laskey gushed over him for weeks after Ranger rescued Steph from Con Stiva’s coffin.
“He woke you up at gunpoint!” the Burg exclaimed.
“Yeah, but he did it for love,” Mrs. Laskey sighed. The Burg made disgusted sounds but Mrs. Laskey stood firm. “Well, I didn’t see the cops solving that case and finding Stephanie. Ranger found her. Probably he would have kept searching until he exhausted himself.”
The Burg shut up, but that’s the day the bookie had to start taking bets on Ranger seriously.
We’ve been back from the shore for a week and we’re back into routine. Pick up the boys, serve as chauffeur, check on my mother-in-law, call Mom, do the books at the plumbing business. My life is busy. I hate the idea that stay-at-home moms don’t do anything. Maybe my mother’s generation didn’t, but every SAHM I know is just as busy as a ‘working’ mom.
My phone rings.
“Mary Lou?”
“Hi, Ram! Need something.”
“Interested in a part-time job?”
No way. I have enough jobs, but I’m curious about this one. “Doing what?”
“Intelligence Officer.”
Huh? “I’m afraid I don’t follow you, Ram.”
I hear a chuckle. “Would you be willing to come to the office and discuss it?”
I check the time. I have two hours before I need to pick the boys up. “Sure.”
“Great. Thank you.” Click.
I count words. 23. Ha! I can’t wait to gloat to Connie. I think the trick is they have to initiate the conversation.
I head to RangeMan. It’s a slick building and I can’t wait to find out what Ram wants. The RangeMan at the desk waves at me. I know this one.
“Cal, right?”
A nod. We’ve learned that Cal is absolutely silent. We’ve tried.
I head to the elevator and it opens the moment I’m there. I step inside and exit on the 5th floor. It’s absolutely silent but Ram is waiting.
“Mary Lou.”
I see why Connie’s hot for him. He has gorgeous blue eyes and wavy brown hair. Connie and I agree: Bradley Cooper. That’s who he reminds us of. I grin. “Time for a haircut.”
He groans. “I might as well make a weekly appointment.”
I laugh and he escorts me to his office. He offers me a water and a chair. Moments later, another man enters.
“Manuel Sanchez. Head of Investigations and Bond Enforcement. Welcome to RangeMan Trenton.”
“Thank you.” I look at him closely for a moment. “I remember your name. You were the one shot . . .”
He smiles slightly and nods. “Yes. Good memory.”
I smile, grateful he didn’t take offense to me mentioning a possibly traumatic moment in his life. “I have to remember all the nicknames. Yours is ‘Wifey’, right?”
He grins at Ram. “Perfect.” Ram is nodding, looking thrilled. He motions for me to take a seat.
“In short, Mary Lou, we need someone who can keep us up to date on the Trenton gossip. Steph used to do it when she worked solo. Now that she’s inside the company, she’s out of the gossip loop and our knowledge of what’s going on is suffering. Your ability to dig up the dirt on Joyce and David Pickens is something we need. You’re Burg, you’re in the loop, and we consider you trustworthy.”
I know I must look shocked.
Manuel smiles. “In short, we’re asking if you’d be willing to work for us as a contract employee. We’ll pay you a set amount and you pass us the gossip you hear.”
I’m too shocked to say anything. “You’ll pay me for the crap I hear every day?”
The men nod.
“Why?” I can’t imagine why they’d want this.
“Well, the information you passed us about David Pickens allowed us to screw him too,” Ram says, grinning.
“How?” I ask, leaning forward.
“Well, remember when David said Joyce was his playtoy?” I nod. “Well, once we started naming all his ‘girlfriends’ and pointing out that Maine Child Services wouldn’t care about his money problems, we forced him to accept that Joyce is going to be his only source of relief.” My eyes widen and my mouth drops. “Yeah. We passed him the name of a bond agent we work with so he can get those low bonds, but he now knows we’re watching him. We’re checking to make sure he uses that money to take care of his kids.”
“So now he’s screwed,” Manny says. “He’s working twice as hard for the same amount of money, but his kids are getting their support like they should. Joyce is his only ‘girlfriend’ and he can’t afford her.”
I lean back and laugh. I thought Burg women were vicious. These men take it to another level but I love their reasons for doing it. Too bad they won’t let me brag about it. Attitudes toward RangeMan might change but I bet they wouldn’t want that. Steph says they like their aura of dangerous notoriety.
“That has an almost Godfather feel to it.”
I groan mentally as they quote in unison. “We made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
I tell Lenny about the RangeMan offer. He, too, is dumbfounded.
“They want to know your Burg gossip?” he asks, bewildered. I tell him what they did with info I dug up on David Pickens and he laughs until he’s forced to clutch his chest.
“Lou, take the job. Hell, get paid to pass the stuff you hear all day. If it has outcomes like that, you’ll do Trenton a public service.”
I return to RangeMan the next day and I negotiate a contract with Ram and Manny. They’re thrilled. I fill out all their paperwork to become a contract employee and they tell me that I’ll be paid on direct deposit. I meet with Hector Gutierrez, Steph’s partner and, even though I know I should be frightened silly of him, I hug him immediately. I turn to Ram, who looks shocked.
“Can you tell him that I want him to know how much I love and appreciate his willingness to train and protect my best friend? I know that I’ll get back in my minivan and shake from head to toe but Steph loves him, so I do too.”
Ram stares at me for a moment, then turns to Hector and repeats that. Hector is not smiling and he stares at me for a minute. Finally, I get a small smile and a sentence.
“Keep hugging me like that and the men will stop thinking I’m scary,” Ram translates. I step back and smile.
“I doubt that. I think you’re pretty scary right now.”
That gets a quick grin and a nod. Hector motions for me to enter his office and I’m given an email address and a laptop. He walks me through how to access the laptop and Ram tells me to make certain no one else in my family accesses my profile. They understand that my laptop will see lots of curious fingers in my home, so my profile has special permissions on it but they created another profile so my family can use it if they need to. I assure them we have a high-speed connection at home and I’ll make sure no one uses my profile.
I leave RangeMan as a contract RangeMan employee.
Burg gossip stop one: Soccer practice.
“Have you heard about Marvin Giametti?”
“No! What?”
“He was sleeping with Elise Gooddall. You remember her? She was Elisa Marley before she married the first time.”
“Oh? Which marriage is this?”
“Well, marriage three is breaking up. Apparently Marvin’s swimmers are pretty powerful.” Multiple gasps.
“Is she certain the baby’s not her husband’s?”
“He’s in jail.”
I cringe. The women continue to discuss Marvin’s swimmers while I laugh.
“Have you heard about Joyce Barnhardt?” I have to work to keep from twisting my head like the Exorcist.
“Yes! They foreclosed on her house!” All the women laugh and I grin and move closer. The ladies move to make room for me. They know I hate her.
“What happened?”
They fill me in. Joyce tried to win her house at the auction, but when the county officials pointed out that she’d also have to pay all the back taxes, she had to watch in fury as it sold for $30,000 plus the outstanding taxes. It was an absolute steal.
“What about the case against her?”
“Mary Lou, where have you been?” Myra laughs. “You’re out of the loop. The judge offset the judgments. Her case for the back taxes was a wash against Larry’s case for 5 years of alimony payments. She owes him $15,000.”
We all laugh. “She’s now trying to land Allen Rusconi. Construction Magnate.” We nod. Rusconi Construction is huge. “Allen had her investigated. I think she must be the only person in the Burg who doesn’t know. He’s treating her like a dog and she’s hanging on, trying to land him.”
We all laugh. Joyce is universally hated. If she’d ever been a team player we might not be so vicious toward her.
Soccer practice ends and I herd three sweaty, hot boys to the minivan and head home to start dinner.
After dinner, I tap into the gossip lines. For the first time, I’m taking notes on everything I hear and after each call, I type it on the computer. I send emails nightly to Manny, Ram, and Zip. They’re thrilled. My mob information is limited because Connie’s my best source but I refuse to inform on close friends. The guys accepted that with good grace. I guess they have other sources in that direction.
I’m getting paid to pass the info I hear. I never thought I’d fall into this kind of job. I love my BFF.
My first RangeMan check left me gasping. I checked the bank balance three times, waiting for it to change.
“Lou?”
I stare at Lenny and point to the computer. He looks and gasps.
“$2600? For gossip?”
I nod. We’re both stunned, so I call Ram.
“Ram?”
“Mary Lou?”
“I just received my first paycheck.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. We’re waiting for one check to come in.”
“I think there’s been a mistake, Ram. You paid me $2600.”
“One moment.” I hear him shuffle papers. “RangeMan takes 15% on bonds, due to the dangerous nature of our skips, and we don’t take anything lower than $50,000.” Lenny has the calculator doing the math. “Your cut is 2% when your information leads directly to our being able to apprehend. We’ve been able to apprehend eight skips this month. That was $1400. Your base is $2000 a month. We owe you another $200. After taxes . . .” Ram grumbles about taxes and the government fleecing of soldiers and civilians for lobbyist parties.
I’m simply staring at the numbers in shock. My god. “Why didn’t Steph do this for you?”
“She didn’t want to be a RangeMan employee.”
“Why?” I can’t imagine it.
“I’m sure you can think of one reason she might not want to work here . . . “
Ranger’s face floats across my mind and I nod. Yeah, Ranger. “Right.”
“Right. Any questions?”
“Nope. Glad to know I’m helping.”
“You are. Thanks.” Click.
I enjoy my new status as a RangeMan employee. Lenny encourages me to use the money on myself, but I immediately start stashing it into a college fund for the boys. They’ll need every penny. Lenny sighs and shakes his head.
“It won’t hurt for you to take care of you too, Lou.”
I smile and pat his cheek. “You take care of your family just fine, Lenny. This money can help the boys.”
Lenny didn’t say anything else but I know my husband. My acknowledgement of his ability to care for his family meant more than anything else I could say to him.
On Sunday, we head to my mother’s. I hope that my grandmother is there. Otherwise, the boys will be hungry when we leave. Luck is in my favor. Granny Agnes, my grandmother, is there and she cooked. The boys enjoy Hungarian goulash and we all collapse in the living room and watch the preseason football games.
“Did you hear about Valerie Plum?”
I turn my head to the kitchen.
“Val? What about Val?”
Mary Kate smirks. “Val had to get a job.” Mary Kate and Val have a love/hate relationship. Steve was Mary Kate’s boyfriend and MK hated Valerie Plum for marrying him and getting to move to sunny California. When Val returned, having been replaced by the babysitter, Mary Kate smirked. They’re working on being friends again, but I can tell Mary Kate will always enjoy hearing bad news about Val.
Some friendship. I’d never do that to Steph. We’re either friends or we’re not.
“No!” my relatives gasp. I’m surprised.
“Yeah. Albert knocked her up again. She’s working at a furniture store now.”
I immediately walk outside and call Steph. She answers. “Yo!”
I laugh. “Been working there too long.”
“Oh god, don’t tell me,” she moans. I hear her laugh. “OK, what’s up?”
“Val. She’s working?”
“Yeah. You know Albert’s law practice never really took off and with the new baby coming, they need more money.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Whining. She wants to stay at home but they can’t afford that right now, so Albert put his foot down.”
“Albert? He knows how?”
Steph laughs. “I guess he figured out which direction was down. My mother is babysitting Lisa and the girls are back in school. Dad’s losing his mind.”
I laugh at that. Mr. Plum’s obsession with his bathroom is legendary, well, if you know the family. “Well, they aren’t over there all the time, right?”
“No, but Lisa screams all the time. It’s insane. I’m tempted to ask Bobby to look at her. Anyway, how do you like being a RangeMan Trenton employee?”
“I love it. I can’t believe you never did this. Why?”
“Ranger.”
“I don’t get it.”
Steph sighs. “When Joe and I were on, Ranger was a temptation I didn’t need. When Joe and I were off, Ranger was a temptation I thought I couldn’t have. It was complicated.”
“Now?”
“He’s a temptation I hope I never get enough of.”
I smile. “You tell him?”
“Not yet. There are some things I need to think about first.”
“Steph? Tell him you love him. At least let him know that. Has he told you he loves you?”
A very quiet “Yeah.”
“And how does it make you feel when he tells you?” Silence. I smile. “Exactly. Think of how he’ll feel when you tell him. My favorite quote about love?”
“Yeah?”
“Love is absolute loyalty. People fade, looks fade, but loyalty never fades. You can depend so much on certain people, you can set your watch by them. And that’s love, even if it doesn’t seem very exciting.”
It’s quiet. “Who said that?”
“Sylvester Stallone.”
We laugh.
Today’s a busy day. Drew has a doctor’s appointment, my mother-in-law has a dentist’s appointment, quarterly taxes are due for the plumbing business and the RangeMan Trenton guys are getting close to the deadline on an important skip. They told me to call if I have any news; it’s that important.
No problem. I’m enjoying this job more than I ever thought I would. I also realize I’m working two jobs and I get to set my hours at both. I love this. I’m a ‘working’ stay-at-home mom.
I collect my mother-in-law first and drop her off at the dentist’s. I collect Drew and take him to the doctor’s. Drew’s annual checkup goes just fine and I swing back by the dentist’s office to collect Magda. I return Drew to school and Magda and I head to Giovichinni’s for some lunch.
Magda and I are enjoying lunch when Francine Koslock walks in with a man. Her cousin George is the important skip and the guys say he’s keeping an extremely low profile. I passed over the information that George has enough dietary problems to make him a closet vegetarian, but that they should stalk Giovichinni’s. Every man has a weakness and the chicken scarpariello at Giovichinni’s is George’s.
I watch Francine and her friend walk to the deli and I pull my cell phone and text a message. Thirty minutes later, half the Burg is staring out of the windows as the RangeMan Trenton handcuff George and toss him into their SUV.
It took them less than three minutes once he walked out. Everyone was stunned. It was over as fast as they got to the windows.
“How in the world did they know he was here?” Magda asks, stunned.
Everyone looks at me, but I shrug. “No idea.”
“Your best friend works at RangeMan. You aren’t passing them information?” Francine asks, in tears. I pass her my cell phone. No outgoing calls, no texts. The Burg is confused.
“You brought George here.”
“In disguise!” she cries.
“Hard to disguise that club foot. Those men are good and they were out there when I arrived. I just didn’t say anything.”
There are murmurs through Giovichinni’s. That’s true. Everyone saw the black SUV and was watching it curiously. Everyone returns to their seats and Magda stares at me curiously.
“So who did you text?”
“Lenny, to let him know we were headed to the business when we finished lunch.”
Magda nods. We finish lunch and head to the business.
Ram told me that any texts sent to them from my phone would disappear 10 minutes after they read them. So I sent two texts, one to Lenny and one to Ram. Thank god for that.
Steph’s clearance starts on Friday. I told Lenny to be prepared to take the boys at any point. The RangeMen asked me if I would be willing to organize a night out for some female guests. They gave me a budget and an extra check for doing the extra work. I’m surprised and asked why they didn’t ask Ella.
“You know Steph’s friends and what you women like to do. Just black out Saturday night.”
No problem. I arrange a spa night for Friday and coordinate with RangeMan Trenton to put a guard in place. I also arrange a shopping trip to King of Prussia. Apparently, one of the ladies in the group has heard of it and wants to go. The RangeMen invite me and Lenny to join them Saturday night. I’ve never seen Steph do a ‘distraction’ and she’s always described them as fun, so I call Magda and ask her to babysit the boys Saturday night.
That’s a distraction? Steph’s right; that does look like fun. Ram whispers for us not to be fooled. The ‘mark’ is a rapist. Lenny pales and grasps my hands. I realize that Steph has amazing strength to do that and look absolutely normal. She doesn’t look afraid or nervous. If Ram hadn’t told me that the ‘mark’ was a rapist, I’d simply think Steph was flirting with a handsome man.
I leave with new respect for my BFF. She does an incredibly dangerous job and looks calm and cool doing it. I also want to know where she got that dress and those heels!
Thursday is the final day of Steph’s clearance and I’m in the gym while she attempts to defend in hand to hand combat against one of the hottest men I’ve ever seen live. Lord, black hair, green eyes, amazing upper body. I’m sitting next to his wife, Cindy, and I gushed over him for at least 10 minutes before she grinned.
“My constant problem. I’ve had women flirt with him right in front of my face.”
I laugh and congratulate her for her outstanding taste. “My husband was a high school football star but he’s definitely lost that body.”
“Oh believe me, it’s the RangeMan lifestyle. I’m in better health now than I was in high school because these men are fitness fanatics.”
I can believe it. Steph’s dropped at least 15 pounds. She’s fit, lean, and sexy. She’s smaller now than she was in high school. Steph’s doing a good job but the RangeMan Trenton men are all blank-faced. The ladies are the only ones cheering for Steph in this gym. I squeeze Connie’s hand and we both hope Steph makes it.
Lula is the one who gives her the idea necessary for her to break the hold the RangeMan has on her. Tank looks amused at his fiancĂ©e but Lula is unrepentant. She’s proud of Steph and everything she’s doing and she’s quick to tell everybody to respect her partner. Steph is a certified ass-kicker and now the RangeMen are about to give her the piece of paper to prove it.
The hour ends and Steph stretches out on the mats. The scores will be released later. Every woman in the room immediately runs for her.
“Steph?” I drop to the mats at her side and push her sweaty hair out of her face.
“Exhausted,” she gasps. She looks at Cindy. “Tell Danny to expect me to poach more of his men in retaliation.”
Cindy laughs.
I head home. Lenny’s left a note.
Took the boys for pizza and a movie.
 I love my husband.
I sit on my couch with a cup of coffee and look around. This is my life. Lenny, the boys, my family and my friends. I love my life. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. My phone rings.
“Hey.”
“Hey. Congrats.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Please, Steph. I know you passed. I don’t have to ask. Wanna tell me about it?”
“Not right now. Too tired. How are the boys?”
“Gone. Lenny took them for pizza. I have the house to myself.”
“Lucky.” We’re quiet.
“Did you hear about Elise Goddall?”
“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”
William Shakespeare
